Ukraine’s military said it destroyed two bridges inside Russia’s Belgorod region in a brazen attack that also highlighted how inexpensive, first-person-view (FPV) drones are changing the face of the modern battlefield.

The 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade struck the bridges while they were concealing caches of Russian mines and ammunition close to the frontier with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian officials said the bridges had been used by the Russian military to transport supplies to its troops near the frontline. Russian soldiers had also mined them and prepared to blow them up in the event of a surprise Ukrainian attack.

Destroying bridges to hinder an enemy advance is nothing new. In February 2022, Ukrainian forces leveled several bridges leading toward Kyiv to slow Russia’s advance during the first days of its full-scale invasion. On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces appear to have done the same to the Russians.

Suspicious Activity

The 58th Brigade said it had decided to investigate after it became suspicious of activity around one of the bridges. “It became clear that something was going on there,” a unit representative told CNN. Standard reconnaissance drones could not operate under the structure without losing signal, so the brigade opted to send a man-portable FPV drone equipped with fiber optics.

The drone uncovered large stocks of anti-tank mines and other ammunition stored beneath the bridge. “We saw the mines, and we struck,” the unit representative said.

Footage of the attack released by the brigade showed the drone approaching the bridge before it located the hidden munitions. It then detonated, sending a huge blast mushrooming upward. A second camera nearby captured the explosion from some distance.

CNN geolocated the bridge to the Belgorod region, just over the border from Kharkiv.

The unit said it decided to investigate another bridge in the area after becoming encouraged by its earlier success. When it did, it discovered that this structure had also been mined. A second drone was launched and triggered another powerful explosion. “(We) saw an opportunity and took it,” the brigade said in a statement.

Good at Cutting Bridges

The operation is significant for more than its audacity. The FPV drones the brigade used cost just 25,000–30,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, or around $600–$725 apiece.

Destroying two bridges at such a distance under normal circumstances would likely have required either expensive guided missiles or precision bombs. In the past, for instance, Kyiv has used U.S.-supplied HIMARS to attack infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk region. The HIMARS launchers themselves cost millions of dollars, while each rocket costs tens of thousands. The drones the 58th Brigade used in the Belgorod attack cost less than a new smartphone.

Ukraine has come to increasingly rely on drones to inflict casualties inside Russian territory while conserving its supply of valuable, Western-supplied munitions.

In June, it used small drones smuggled close to Russian military airfields to damage or destroy dozens of aircraft, for example. “These types of operations show how even modest technology can achieve outsized results when used creatively,” said military analyst Mykola Bielieskov.

In other words, drones offer a cheap way to magnify Ukraine’s impact and offset Russia’s much larger arsenal.

Winning a Time of War

The destruction of the Belgorod bridges comes at a challenging time for Ukraine. Russian forces have been grinding their way forward in eastern Ukraine, while Moscow has also continued a near-daily campaign of missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.

President Vladimir Putin has also sought to dampen any hopes of a ceasefire, saying that talks on the matter were pointless and insisting Moscow would continue the offensive. The destruction of the bridges was one of the few things that offered the military some good news in recent days.

Russia has not officially responded to the attacks. But the disruption of bridges at the Belgorod frontline will make it harder for Moscow to supply its forces operating close to the Ukrainian border.

The bridges were used by Russia to move ammunition, fuel and food and other supplies to its troops. “Their destruction will create problems for the enemy’s logistics system,” the 58th Brigade said.

FPV drones could play a larger role in the months and years to come. Volunteered ideas and ingenuity are necessary for Ukraine’s success, analysts have argued, since Kyiv has to make up for a lack of munitions and Russian numerical superiority on the battlefield.

Cost-effective, sometimes homemade drones are one of Ukraine’s most effective tools in the fight. These can include commercial parts scavenged from toy drones and then reassembled by volunteers into attack-oriented aircraft.

“The value of these drones cannot be overstated,” the 58th Brigade representative said. “They allow us to achieve results that would otherwise require weapons we don’t have.”